First Impressions / Shakugan no Shana

Summary:

With things at school back to normal, Wilhelmina suggests that Yuuji give Pheles some of his power of existence so that she can at least stand and walk on her own. Alastor agrees that this might be necessary for them to get more information out of her, and Wilhelmina points out that this’ll also let them observe the pulse of power flowing between the Reiji Maigo and Pheles, meaning that they might find out something about the Silver. Margery suggests they do it at Keisaku’s house, however Kazumi doesn’t accompany them after Pheles specifically questions why an ordinary human like her is there.. To Kazumi’s surprise, Shana comes to her house late that night to bring her to Keisaku’s place. Kazumi had been feeling down because she didn’t think that she could be at Shana or Yuuji’s side, but with Shana now outside her window, Kazumi makes up her mind to go to where Yuuji is. Seeing Kazumi’s determination, Shana even encourages her by saying that no one can stop Kazumi if she has that, not even Shana herself. Shana then flies Kazumi to Keisaku’s house, and along the way, Shana announces that she’s going to tell Yuuji that she loves him. Respecting each other as rivals, both girls then declare that they won’t lose.

Yuuji doesn’t understand why Shana brought Kazumi, but he doesn’t get much time to think about it because they soon start the process of transferring his power of existence. Everyone is on edge as Pheles gets close to Yuuji, and though she yearns for Johan, she ends the process by pushing Yuuji away once she gets enough power. As for clues about the Reiji Maigo, Margery was only able to tell that there’s a mysterious unrestricted spell pattern around it. Pheles thinks that it might be Sabrac’s doing, but all Margery can say is that the kaikin has mysteriously changed from the original. After Marchosias calls Yuuji too much of a black box, Kazumi stands up for him by saying that he’s still himself. Kazumi admits to not understanding about the Tomogara or the Flame Haze, but she still has the courage to ask Pheles to walk around the festival with her. Instead of thinking about Pheles as a Tomogara, Kazumi sees her as a woman who’s in love, and she feels that loving someone is the same for both humans and Tomogara. In short, she wants Pheles to see how much she cherishes her time with Yuuji.

The next day, Shana joins Kazumi and Pheles at the festival, and Kazumi starts out by buying them all crepes. She thinks that this is Pheles first time at a school festival, but Pheles reveals that she’s been to festivals before with Johan. Margery meanwhile runs into Eita and Ogata, but Eita is apprehensive when he sees her. As he starts to walk off, Margery tells him that he doesn’t have to rush – he has plenty of time to contemplate the weight of the truth he experienced before deciding anything. She feels that what happened yesterday was a test of sorts for him, and he can now figure out his true feelings. As for Yuuji, he gets stuck on the school’s roof with Wilhelmina watching over him, and seeing everyone having a fun time at the festival makes him feel that his own time has stopped. When Yuuji asks Wilhelmina about Johan, she reveals that he was also originally a human. Johan had been found and raised by Pheles, and she had fallen in love with him. Wilhelmina thinks that Pheles came along today because she identified with what Kazumi said about love being the same for humans and Tomogara.

After a day of having fun with Shana and Kazumi, Pheles recalls how Johan had once commented that it was sad for a festival to come to an end. Pheles had told him that human enjoyment always ends, but she had pledged to give him whatever he wanted. What Johan wanted was to be with her forever, and he had been willing to give up being a human if he could do that. He had suggesting playing a prank on time by making lose its way at midnight, and in doing this, he had become a Mystes. Remembering all of this causes Pheles to start crying back in the present, and she reveals that, like Kazumi, there was a time that was precious to her. As the festival officially draws to a close, the entire group meets up on the school rooftop, and Pheles thanks everyone for what they did for her. Specifically, she thanks Shana and Kazumi for giving her time, but her expression turns dark as she says that it’s because of them that the real her was able to prepare to meet Johan. To everyone’s surprise, Pheles then explodes, and Yuuji gets captured inside a spherical force field.

When the real Pheles appears via a twister, Margery realizes that the Pheles they were talking to was just a marker used to call the real her. Wilhelmina knows the ability that Pheles used, but she doesn’t understand why, so the real Pheles explains that there’s not a more convenient situation for her than this. She had been taking advantage of each of them so that she can get back Johan, and since she can’t touch the Reiji Maigo, she plans to have Johan personally come out. As Pheles approaches him though, Yuuji starts screaming, and to everyone’s surprise, an armored hand suddenly appears from a dark hole on his body and stabs through Pheles’ abdomen. At this exact same moment, elsewhere on the school premises, Konoe and her butler’s bracelets start glowing.

Preview:

So here I thought that this would be a nice and quiet episode with some background on Pheles and Johan along with the conclusion of the school festival. And that’s what it was…until the last two minutes when they threw a curve ball with the appearance of the real Pheles. Two curve balls, in fact, because the armored hand surprised me too. I assume that hand is connected to whatever is causing the silver flame rather than to Johan since the armor was silver. Does this mean though that Yuuji has acquired a new defensive ability, or does it mean that whatever is inside of him is now going to come out? If it’s between one of those, the latter’s much more exciting to consider.

Plus, if you consider that Konoe and her butler are going to get involved (as the end of the episode and the preview hint at), then there’s a ton of stuff that’ll potentially be going on all at once – almost like the crazy battle in the beginning of the first episode. I thought the secret about Konoe might last until the end of the series, but according to the preview, it’ll be revealed next week. All of this leads me to think that, if last week and this week are any indication, the second half of this second series will be a lot more exciting than the first half.

Oh and one more thing: the new OP and ED will both be sung by KOTOKO (songs are called BLAZE and Sociometry), and the new OP will supposedly start on episode 17.

40 Comments

  16. OMG, Yuuji is way overpowered.

    Now only does he have the Reiji Maigo, the most broken Hougu in existence, he also stole about half of Hecate’s power of existence, the one person with the most existence in existence.

    And now he’s got the Silver!? Overpowered.

    Yuuji >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Shana

    Go eat a dick Shana, not Yuuji’s dick, he doesn’t want you anymore.

    Makall
    Reply

  22. lol at Shana.

    She’s nothing without Yuuji.

    And now she’s nothing compared to Yuuji.

    Yuuji went from nothing to badass in less than a year.

    Shana took minimum of 12 years to get to her current pathetic status.

    I concur with the dick eating comment, go eat a dick Shana, that’s all you’re good for now.

    DoubleX
    Reply

  23. So there will be a new OP and ED? Awesome. I don’t care too much for the current songs.

    I don’t really like Pheles. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been annoyed at people who think “Love >>>>>> everything else”. Really feel bad for Wilhelmina.

    @Makall

    You’re getting the wrong impression about Reiji Maigo. While certainly unique, it’s hardly an overpowered Hougo. This is the reason why Pheles and Johan never met any trouble for a long time despite Reiji Maigo being common knowledge to others.

    Now, Yuuji’s version of Reiji Maigo is simply godly. That is definitely true.

    Meh
    Reply

  25. Pheles is still ignoring Yuji’s existence (geez, woman! grow up and act your age!) and she tries to break Johan out of Yuji again. Unfortunately, the Silver “protects” Yuji by punching straight through Pheles’s stomach. Now Fecor and Hecate show up.

    capoexecutor
    Reply

  26. well, Yuuji will end up protecting Shana if things go that way… lets get everyman japanese highschooler, drop into him most powerful artifact ever, and place protective wards size of Death Stars force field over it…

    ewok
    Reply

  30. I’m a bit disturbed by Pheles’s background.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Well, at least Yuji’s harem has reached a limit and will now start declining in number. Looks like Shana’s competition will be less intensive.

    capoexecutor
    Reply

  32. @Kaito

    What’s wrong with KOTOKO? She sounds similar to Kawada Mami since they’re both a part of I’ve Sound. (MELL is also a part of and sounds very similar too.) There have been cases where I’ve Sound has written a song and they can’t decide whether KOTOKO or Kawada Mami should perform it for an album, as well as KOTOKO performing Kawada Mami’s songs at concerts (and vice-versa I believe).

    divine
    Reply

  34. KOTOKO and Kawada Mami sound almost exactly the same anyway, and I enjoyed Being from last season.

    And I fail to see how badass Yuuji is. OK, so now we know he can’t be attacked but that doesn’t mean he can actively fight anyone. Also, the way he acts = badass? Does not compute!

    Hiruma
    Reply

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